Screw the 2600k... waste of money compared to the 2500k. There is no way that 2mb L3 cache and hyperthreading (useless for gaming) is worth an extra $100+.

As far as SSD goes, it's really really not necessary at this point in time. Get 2 SATA III drives in Raid 0 and that is WAY MORE than sufficient for games. Even 7200 rpm SATA II drives are plenty fast still. SSD is way too expensive at this point.

8Gb of RAM is alright if you're running a 64 bit OS, but 4Gb is more than sufficient for years to come. It really depends how well it'll run by what kind of configuration you're running. What i mean by that is if your running say 4 x 2Gb sticks vs. 2 x 4Gb sticks. The latter is usually the better choice. Just remember the more sticks of RAM you have, the more stress it puts on the memory controller. This basically means that if you plan to overclock your RAM speeds and reduce timings, than you won't have near as much headroom without becoming unstable. Also make sure to get RAM that has a voltage under 1.65V to be safe. I've heard from several sources that the new memory controllers onboard the Sandy Bridge chips don't like high voltage RAM very much.

My 2 cents ;)

Considering the last interview, there might be Hyperthreading support.

I won't do anything with raid ..., but maybe I will keep my Velociraptor for the OS.

@ Ram: I will go for 2x 4 Gb for sure and yes, Win 7 64 bit

Here's what Oleg said:
He didn't indicate any thing that has to do with hyperthreading. He's basically just stating that the game engine uses a new "hybrid multi-threaded system". Meaning that the game will make better use of the newer multi-core processors and such. Unless you've read something different of coarse.

RAM is G.Skill Ripjaw,don't know the latency.
H70 is a totally sealed no maintenance liquid cooled solution.
Temps at this level of OC is no more than 68C
You need to choose well the fan that will work with the H70.
The guy who build my system did a good job.
My case helps a lot too is a NZXT Phantom.
The OC is really simple,you just change the multiplier,that's all.
And NEVER allow the BCLK change anything up of 100 MHz if you don't want a dead SB.

- ditch/replace the following:

• 2600k for 2500k (money saved, HT is darn right useless for games)
• H70 for Noctua NH-D14 (H70 isn't even a proper water cooler and fans it comes with are shockingly bad/loud)
  - be ware which RAM you're purchasing with NH-D14, I'd recommend something from Mushkin (low heat sinks and they walk over Corsair's RAM)
• get and SSD - no FPS gain, but maps and textures will load faster, overall PC will run faster (not useful for FPS shooters, but useful for simulations)

Only for video editing and software than can utilize more than 4 cores. So, if you belong to that category... For games, not worth it. Money wasted.

@ Hyperthreading:

I quoted Chivas on that one, seems like he was wrong though.


@ Ibuchele: What frequency is that RAM?

Forgot to mention:1600 MHz
I would like to correct the memory I posted early, it's not G.Skill, it's a Corsair Vengeance 1.5V 2x4GB
The Noctua DH 14 is a real good performer, but I'm very satisfied with the H70.

How loud is it? :mrgreen:

There are a comparative review about it, but in my particular case is very low.
You will need to use a good fan and put some money in a good case too (I'm using a NZXT Phantom),because they will guarantee good cooling and a low noise level

Ibuchele, I've got all the components and am just about to assemble a new i5-2500K build - I'll be using an Asus P8P67 with Corsair Vengeance 1.5V 2x4GB 9-9-9-24 memory.

Would be interested to hear if you had any issues with getting the ram to work? I have been reading some reports on forums of people with difficulties with ram timings on Asus P67 boards - most of which seem to be resolved ok after some work. (May have been due to early BIOS versions?)

Did you use the XMP profile or set it up manually?

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edit: sorry - just read again and realised that someone else put it together for you. Still, if you've any ideas on my questions feel free to reply,
Cheers.